Tornio Ukrainians

The Tornio Ukrainians was one of the largest communities of the Ukrainian diaspora during the 19th century, consisting of 17,423 people (70% of the population of Tornio). The Tornio Ukrainians arrived in the 1830s and 1840s as migrant laborers, and they provided fresh labor for the Russian Empire in the underpopulated region. The community would practically disappear after Finland's independence in 1918.